Crazy Idea...

We all know too well the crazy ideas that any given 4 year old child can have right?  Well...the other day Brayden was begging to go to the playground.  It was a busy day...lots of things going on, errands to run, laundry, cleaning, un-packing etc and after dinner he asked me again if we could go.  I realized it was getting dark and by the time I cleaned up dinner it would be well after 9pm before we could even think of leaving...so I thought for a moment.  Crazy idea...but why not take him?  Its not like he has school in the morning, and its a beautiful evening out.  So....despite getting the {stink-eye} look from my husband I said yes.  Brayden giggled and jumped up and down.  I finished cleaning up dinner and looked for the bug spray.  Yes...I can sometimes be crazy like this.  I think its important to not always tell Bray no, even if some of his ideas are ridiculous.  I want to teach him something other than structure all of the time and he will have plenty of years to learn that in school.  Why not act on impulse sometimes?  Why not go to the playground at night once in a blue moon?
The playground was actually well lit, and there were people at the lake fishing, walking, etc.  I felt safe...so we got out of the car.  He had the entire playrground to himself.  He was apprehensive at first, but once he realized this place was ALL his...oh the fun.this.child.had!  He kept giggling in a way that made me giggle.  He smiled from ear to ear.  It was a really cool moment if I do say so myself. I only realized this after I got over the looks I was getting from all of the adults at the park that is...ha ha!
On the ride home...after we stalked some fire trucks for a little bit...we headed home.  I asked him if he realized that this was a special once in awhile treat and that we could not do this all the time...he said he understood.  I followed that by telling him that I think I might just be the craziest mother in the entire planet for taking my 4 year old to the playground at 9pm at night! He also agreed with that statement!  Stinker!
I loved that we could create a fun memory that night.  That is something he will probably never forget for the rest of his life!  Was this totally insane?  Possibly.  Will he get to do it often? Probably not.  Will he ever forget it?  Doubt it.
Make special memories with your babies, time is too precious to give up on ALL crazy ideas...

In Heaven...

Just lately, Brayden has been asking questions like "Daddy, where is your Daddy and Mommy, where is your Daddy?"  Ron and I have both been telling him that our Daddy's passed away and that they are in heaven with Jesus, God, our guardian angels, and our other family in heaven.  He was usually quite content with that until a few weeks ago.  One morning brayden asked me again:  And our convo went like this:

Brayden: Mommy, where is your Daddy?

Me: Bray honey, my Daddy is in heaven!

Brayden: Where is Daddy's Daddy?

Me: He is in heaven with my Daddy!
Insert: Brayden putting his pouty and sad head down with the utmost look of hearbreak on his face as he starts to sob a little.

Me: Bray, whats the matter honey?  It's ok to be sad, but both of your Grandpas are watching over you ALL the time bubby!  Why are you so sad love?

Brayden:  "BECAUSE!!!!  I don't have a Daddy in heaven!" 

You should have seen my freaked out husbands face when I told him that story!!!

Ron thinks Brayden knows something he doesnt know, and statements like that make him paranoid.  He gets freaked out whenever he has a headache of some sort!  Me on the other hand thinks its adorable, and nothing more than a cute statement from that of a three year old.  Guess that's how we balance each other out so well huh?

Hope you are still giggling.  I am ;-)

An impromptu weekend...

This last weekend was probably the most fun, relaxing weekend I have had in a long time.  Brayden and I woke up Saturday morning with Daddy at work and we decided that even though it was a gloomy and semi-windy day we would head out to Timmy Ho's for our usual morning drinks...a large Double double for me, and a chocolate milk for Bray.  This of course after we spend a good 20 minutes in bed snuggling, giggling, tickling and gabbing about our plans...

As we were headed downtown, we happened to notice that the drum corp. international who had performed in the Lucy 100th Birthday parade the night before were holding a drum line practice downtown next to the ice rink.  So...we got our drinks, and parked ti listen and watch the drummers.  Soon we got out of the van and decided to sit on the benches nearby to watch and listen.  They were amazing.  Brayden danced and giggled listening to them play.  Soon an old neighbor Ive known since childhood came over to sit with us and we chatted about their performance and what a perfect day this was to watch them.  Within the next hour, a crowd started to form and the other band members started filing in to practice as a team.  We stayed for a few hours just relaxing, talking, laughing and enjoying a perfectly impromptu Saturday morning.  One of the drummers came over to talk to brayden and let him play on his drums!  Brayden was IN.HEAVEN!  All the young men filtered over slowly and were showing him drumming tricks and building him up!  They were so nice!  At the end before they headed back after their break...one guy came over and handed Brayden his drumsticks and told him to keep them!  They are all taped up and ratty from playing with, but how special that Brayden has ACTUAL drumsticks from the Texas drum corp. international marching band Genesis!  Too cool.

During all of this, we were on the phone on and off all morning with my niece Emily discussing the huge Lucy picture that was going to take place downtown at 2PM with everyone dressed as Lucy and Desi for the attempt to have the most Lucy's in one place at one time at City Hall for the Guinness Book of world Records!  She convinced us that this was important, and that she would have costumes ready for us with wigs if we could make it to their house in 5 minutes to get dressed....so off we went...and quickly!  I should mention is was 1:35PM...lol! 

We scurried over there and Emily and Molly got Brayden dolled up in a Lucy dress look-a-like costume and a red wig.  I quickly laid on the bright red lipstick we had to have and he quickly said to Emily, "Emily!  I don't have a necklace!"  After we all laughed in hysterics, Emily rushed around to find him the perfect white pearls to don!  We drove there and parked and were literally RUNNING to city hall to make it for the picture!  There were photographers from all over the world snapping pictures and doing news articles on this event in celebration of Lucille Ball's 100th Birthday celebration.  We.just.made.it!

It was such a great afternoon of laughing, pictures, history and fun.  Walking back to the car Brayden said to me, "Mommy, thank you, I am having so much fun today!, Thank you for the day off Mommy!".  It made me smile from ear to ear!  It also made me want to quit my job and stay home with him again, but that is not a possible thing for us to do right now! 

At the end of the day Emily and I chatted and were talking about how Brayden was such a great sport.  He didn't get stressed by our rushed commotion and was totally up for this crazy fun experience.  She said she loved how he held so still as she was bobby pinning the red wig to his head and getting him all dolled up!  He is so much fun!  My whole family is so much fun!  I am so so glad that I had this experience this weekend.  I realized very quickly that life isn't always about plans and execution of them.  It;s about appreciating that even when our plans change, we can find that in those moments we will have the best moments in our lives!

In Heaven...

Just lately, Brayden has been asking questions like "Daddy, where is your Daddy and Mommy, where is your Daddy?"  Ron and I have both been telling him that our Daddy's passed away and that they are in heaven with Jesus, God, our guardian angels, and our other family in heaven.  He was usually quite content with that until a few weeks ago.  One morning brayden asked me again:  And our convo went like this:

Brayden: Mommy, where is your Daddy?

Me: Bray honey, my Daddy is in heaven!

Brayden: Where is Daddy's Daddy?

Me: He is in heaven with my Daddy!
Insert: Brayden putting his pouty and sad head down with the utmost look of hearbreak on his face as he starts to sob a little.

Me: Bray, whats the matter honey?  It's ok to be sad, but both of your Grandpas are watching over you ALL the time bubby!  Why are you so sad love?

Brayden:  "BECAUSE!!!!  I don't have a Daddy in heaven!" 

You should have seen my freaked out husbands face when I told him that story!!!

Ron thinks Brayden knows something he doesnt know, and statements like that make him paranoid.  He gets freaked out whenever he has a headache of some sort!  Me on the other hand thinks its adorable, and nothing more than a cute statement from that of a three year old.  Guess that's how we balance each other out so well huh?

Hope you are still giggling.  I am ;-)

Summer 2010

This year has already been a very very busy year for us (can't you tell from my lack of blogging lately?).  I went back to work early in the beginning of the year, and Ron followed suit again shortly thereafter.  Brayden is now with a sitter for a few hours a day, and is really doing well with that.  He is having a lot of fun with his new friends, and the only thing he doesn't thoroughly enjoy is getting up early in the morning with Mommy to get ready to go.  He grumbles, re-snuggles into his pillows and acts like he does not even hear me!!!

Of course with all of that going on, Ron has just finished another season of the Babe Ruth prep league, regular season team and the all star teams.  His coaching was awesome this year, and he was even awarded for the 2011 Ray Angle Awward for Babe Ruth!  He was very proud, and it was VERY hard for me to keep it a secret for two weeks!  Me...keeping a secret!  I know~but I did it folks! Brayden of course had the time of his life again this season with his own little uniform to match the big kids, and he had tons of little kids to play with at each and every game we attended.  We even got to go out of town for All star championships this year and have a nice 4 days in a hotel room...it was baseball for the boys, and LUXURY for Momma!  I truly enjoyed having this time with both of my boys as the days seem to get shorter and shorter as of late.

I have not really been doing much of anything except working (which I LOVE my job), and trying to keep up with and support Rons endeavors with baseball this summer.  Of course, the usual has taken place....Bray and Mommy time, playtime, pool time, and not much else.  We have spent weeks eating out, avoiding cleaning and laundry, and just relaxing with each other at each special moment we can.  I am going to start blogging again more regularly, as I have had an interesting last year and need to reflect on it in some ways.  Hope you are all enjoying your nice hot summer as well!  Will be back shortly with some pics and stories.

Update...long overdue

Well, I'll admit it...I feel like the long lost blogger these days.  I keep thinking "Oooh, Ill need to blog about that", except, I typically don't have time to do it these days anymore. 

This Momma has gone from Stay at home Mommy Status to back to work Mommy.  I received an offer for a career I just could not say no too.  I am now an Assistant Executive Director for Emeritus Senior Living.  I love it!  It does require a lot of my time and concentration, but it is also pushing me to go back to school this year as well to pursue my Bachelors in Business, then I plan to work on a Maters after that.  Needless to say, my home decor and furniture rehab projects have gone by the wayside {as well as cleaning my house lately!} lol.  The only I dislike about the whole thing is when I get home from work Brayden says to me "Mommy, are you done with work so you can spend time with me now?"  It breaks my heart, but it also motivates me to get on the floor and play when all I want to do is sleep for an hour or two! lol.

Brayden is growing as fast ever!  He is definitely going to be taller than me...and maybe Ron too!  He is counting, learning all of his letters, numbers, and is slowly working on reading right now.  He speaks so well for his age, and is constantly making us giggle with his remarks and personality.  He loves being home during the day with Daddy, and is learning everything he can about dinosaurs right now...{c/o: Dino Dan}.  I must say I am quite impressed with the names of the ones he knows currently...half of them I CANT pronounce...and he can!  All in all, he is a wonderful little guy.  I need to make an effort to document everything I can so Ill never forget these moments in his life.

Daddy is still at that Fire Department.  He loves it.  He was awarded First Responder this year at the banquet, received his EMT state certification, and just had his 1 year anniversary there last week.  During that week he was privileged enough to be able to assist in the delivery of a baby on the ambulance and received his first EMT First Responder Stork pin, and an article in the local newspaper!!!  He is also getting ready to start coaching Babe Ruth Baseball again this year and is gearing up for a whole summer full of all that it will entail!

I promise to get everyone caught up here in the next coming weeks.  Stay tuned!!!

Plex...

If you know my child, you know that he has a serious friendship with his Yo Gabba friends.  Tonight I went to see my nephew and have a dinner with his cub scouts at this school.  When I left, Brayden told me "I very miss you Mommy"...meaning he would miss me while I was gone {aweeee}.

When I got home, he was upstairs, he came down asking Daddy who was here.  Daddy said he didn't know...so I hid around the corner and popped out thinking he would be all excited to see me {you know, because he was going to miss me so much while I was gone}....and Brayden just plainly looked at me and said "Oh, I thought Plex was here".

Oooohhhh...well okay then!!!  Guess the Mommy novelty thing is running thin these days.

Doe re me...

Lastnight as we were getting ready for bed, Brayden came running into the bathroom with the extension from the vacuum using it like a microphone singing his little heart out!  He threw me for a loop when I heard him sing {and pretty on key} "Doe Re Me Fa So La Tee Doe"

I used to sing that to him about a year or more ago over and over again as he played the piano so he would start to recognize keys and notes.  He loved when I sang that to him, but never repeated it, and had not attempted it until lastnight.  I cannot believe he even remembered that!  I told Ron this was my baseball moment...that my child is singing, and loves it, and is actually good at it.  When I was pregnant I used to say that I was going to have a little boy that loved singing as much as I do, my little Josh Groban...haha!  I was so proud of my peanut lastnight, my heart swelled a little bit. 

Honestly...if he never enjoyed singing at all, I wouldnt mind, but since its been such a big part of my life, I kind of hoped he would love it, or at least be able to do it well.  I just thought it was really special, and very cool.  Mommy was impressed Bray!

O R E O

The other night Brayden and Daddy decided to have Oreo's together.  Daddy taught Brayden how to dunk his cookies in milk, and Brayden could'nt have loved it more!  He dunked and ate oreo's and dunked some more.  His face, fingers and shirt were covered with drippy crumbling oreo goodness.  It was certainly a Daddy and Brayden moment to remember.  I sat on the couch giggling at them both and snapping pictures of course.  I love moments that are simple and perfect like this.

My little flying monkey...

For the last few years, I have really been wanting to make Brayden a Flying Monkey costume from the Wizard of Oz.  I wasn't quite sure how I would pull it off exactly, but knew I wanted to try making this for him.  This year, this Momma was on a mission to get it done.  I searched everywhere for grayish/blue furry fabric so I could match the monkey exactly to the old movie.  I could not find it anywhere.  {sigh}

I finally settled on some white furry fabric and decided it would still look cute even so!  Next, I searched for really cool feathers so I could hand make the wings for the costume.  I bought 6 bags of feathers, ended up only needing two of them...so I'll just hope that I need them for something else soon!!!

I started making his costume on Saturday, October 30th...yes I am a huge procrastinator.  I cut, and sewed and cut {ran and bought another yard of fur}, and continued sewing for most of the day!  I finished Halloween Day at about 2pm...phew!

I will add that although Brayden DID end up liking his costume, that on Saturday he was trying on the suit before it was finished and got fur in his mouth.  He immediately started dry heaving, and yelling "get it off me, I don't like it anymore...fur is not my favorite snack!"  I'm not even kidding...this dramatic little child of mine ;-)

Thankfully by Sunday, he was ready and raring to go putting his costume on.  He was so excited, and looked like such a soft little monkey, I just wanted to pet him!  ha!

I added some fishing wire to his tail so it would wag as he walked, and the wings turned out so cute...even if they did require me sitting gluing each one on one by one for over 4 hours!!! Gotta love hot glue gun burns though right?  Well...they were totally worth it, he looked adorable.  I am so happy with how this whole costume turned out!  Most importantly...he had a blast trick or treating.  He kept telling people "thank you" and "Happy Halloween", and even knocked on one door screaming "Hello, Lakewood Fire Department!!!"  He's a hoot!

Happy Halloween 2010 Brayden...or....Flying Monkey I should say!



Feelings

Brayden and I went to a play date today at my good friend Paula's house with Miss Rosalie and Benjamin, two of Brayden's best friends.  Benjamin and Rosalie are closer in age to eachother, and Brayden is almost a year older than both of them, so watching them all play is interesting.  Today, Benjamin pushed Rosalie down a few times, and Rosalie began to cry each time.  After one of Benjamin's time outs today Brayden says to Rosalie "Im sorry Benjamin hit you Rosalie, I make you happy now-I make Benjamin happy now too!"  I thought it was sweet that Brayden recognized the interaction between Rosalie and Benjamin, and that he was trying to play peace maker in the situation. 

On our way home Brayden was chatting with me about his day, which is typically what he does when we leave play dates.  Today, this was our conversation, and it was just so sweet!!!  It was just so like him to feel this way, and to express it as he did, it stole my heart.  God I love him....

Brayden: Mommy, Im sorry.

Me: Why are you sorry baby, you didnt do anything you need to be sorry for, why are you saying you are sorry?

Brayden: Well, my feelings are hurt.

Me: Why are your feelings hurt baby?

Brayden: um, uh, well....Benjamin hurt my feelings when he pushed Miss Rosalie, and and um...she cried, and it hurt my feelings....

Me: It hurt your feelings when Rosalie was sad?

Brayden: Yeah, Rosalie cried and it hurt my feelings....but I make her happy, and I make Benjamin happy too!

Me:  Awe....I think its very sweet that you felt bad for Miss Rosalie Bray, but Benjamin didnt mean to hurt her feelings, or your feelings...he is younger than you are baby.

Brayden: Benjamin tell Miss Rosalie Sorry....

Me: Yes, Benjamin did the right thing by saying he was sorry to her, that was very very nice of him, and Im glad that you tried really hard to make both of them happy afterwards too, that is a good big boy thing to do and Mommy is proud of you buddy!

Bray: I knowwww......thank you Mommy!

I drove silent for a moment taking all of that in.  My mind was piecing together the events of the day, and his reactions, and our conversation.  I thought....how sweet is it that he felt sadness observing Rosalie's hurt feelings, and also sadness for Benjamin becuase he knew Ben didnt want a time out, and that it hurt his feelings too.  I was proud that Bray felt compelled to make them both happy again, and that he recognized that was the right thing to do.  It was kind, it was genuine, and it was compassionate.  It's one of those moments you realize that all of your reminding, nagging, correcting, and talking to your child DOES make sense to them, and they are in fact taking it all in within their little worlds.  I'd like to think he will never lose that part of his personality, and that his first instinct will always be to attempt to make others feel better.  Maybe I am doing this right afterall....right now at least anyways ;-)

Tooth Fairy 101

Brayden has been infatuated with Yo Gabba Gabba lately.  He loves the new episode where Muno is talking about losing his teeth, and the entire process of your tooth falling out, the tooth fairy, etc.  I have seen the episode several times and have heard the story about the tooth fairy and so forth, its all good and fine.

Today on our way to a play date Brayden told me that his tooth was falling out.  {He is purely being facetious} but either way I responded with "No honey, your teeth are not going to fall out like Muno's for a few years, you still have some time love."  I then thought it was a perfect opportunity to dramatically tell him the story of the tooth fairy, and how when he loses his first tooth, we will place it under his pillow in a neat little container, and when he's fast asleep, a beautiful tooth fairy will fly into his bedroom, lift his pillow and take the tooth, but that she will probably leave him some money or something else really special in return for getting his tooth.  There was silence for a moment, and I knew he was just trying to process that information, thinking he would be all tickled and excited about this great story of the tooth fairy I had just told him.  Instead he replies very bluntly and without expected enthusiasm saying, "No Mommy, that's not true, just not true Mommy."

"Ugh, yes it is baby!"  He says, "No, no Mommy, that's NOT true!" 

I quickly changed the subject and started in on Santa Claus instead...praying all the while he would not dispute me on this one...which thankfully he didn't ;-)

What a stinker.

Brayden's Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Bash-3 years old!!!

This year Momma went bonkers!!!  I really really wanted to throw Brayden a party he would never forget.  I asked him a few months ago what type of party he wanted, and he immediately said Yo Gabba Gabba.  Unfortunately...I could not find many of the things I wanted for his party at any stores....which meant making most of everything.  My Mom and Aunt JoAnn, and good friend Bonnie helped me with tissue papering, as one Gabba character took almost a whole day to complete.  Here are some of the fun pictures from his party!!!  He had such a great time, enjoyed the 60 some people that attended, and even got up to the microphone and sang Happy Birthday while telling everyone "thank you everyone for coming to my party-have to go eat cake now".

{When Brayden first arrived at the fire hall before anyone else}...he was quite shocked and excited!!!

The Yo Gabba characters I made {thankfully with help}

Party hats and horns!!!

Tables with puffs I made in Gabba colors...

Foofa wands I made in all different colors for the kiddos.

Marshmallow & frosting sticks...

Animal cracker scones

The crayon aprons my mom made for each child at the party...

Ron took the children on a tour of the fire trucks and each one got to sit inside and have their picture taken by their parents.  Lights on and all!

Brobee cake!!!  I made it and after it was mixed realized I added 1/2 cup of oil where I should have used 1/3 cup...it was a moist cake I must say, but very yummy!!!

Gift time!!!

Mommy and Brayden the next day at Applebees for his actual birthday.  They sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him his very own "special surprise" as he called it...ice cream sundae!!! 

Hope you had the best birthday ever bubby...we love you!!!

GPS...

Last weekend Ron was in his best friends wedding.  It was beautiful and special.  I will post more on that later...but that meant that we had to drive to Erie to pick up his tuxedo.  At the tux place they had a ping pong table, and Brayden had so much fun playing it the few times we were there in the last few weeks before the wedding. 

Today we drove back to Erie to pick up Grandma from the airport.  As soon as we headed down the main strip to the mall Brayden asked us if we were going to the "Ping Pong place".  Ron and I giggled that he knew and recognized where we were.

As we passed the "ping pong place" headed toward the airport, our GPS started telling us which way to go.  From the backseat Braydens says "what?"  to the female voice on the GPS.  Ha ha I know.  I started to explain to him that its just a voice on a machine that tells Mommy and Daddy which way to go in the car so we don't get lost.  I didn't get an immediate response, and I figured I wouldn't because that's alot to understand for a two year old right?  Brayden then says.."Um...well....Ma'am...where is the ping pong place?"...."Ping pong place where are you?". 

We were doubled over in hysterics at that point.  What a funny little guy.

Our baby will soon be 3!!!

Brayden is turning 3 this weekend.  I cannot believe how fast the last 3 years have gone.  I told Ron the other night that I remember saying, "I can't wait until he can smile, laugh, crawl, walk, talk, sing, dance, hug, kiss, snuggle, being potty trained, his big boy bed...everything"....but now that he has done, and he doing all of those things...I am craving just wanting my baby baby back ;-( 

It makes you realize very quickly that you need to embrace every single moment in their lives.  Take time to enjoy the simplest of moments.  Those moments when he wants to snuggle on the couch and watch cartoons on a lazy non busy day.  Moments when we are blowing bubbles, playing with him in the tubby, combing his hair, or snuggling with him at bedtime.  We never get those moments back, so we should inhale them every second we can. 

Right now Brayden is growing like a weed.  He is 3ft. 3 inches tall already, and 46 pounds!!!  He is a tank.  I can barely lift him up anymore.  He loves baseball and is actually quite good at it.  He loves singing songs, shaking his tooshy while saying "uh oh"...and talking with Mommy and Daddy.  He is very sociable, and not shy at all!!!  He loves to make people laugh with his one liners he knows he will get a reaction from...like "Are you kidding me" or "Pee-U Good Night" or "Oh my shucks"...."Jeeze Louise"..."you're making me crazy nuts"..."Im mad and I quit {care of Ni Hao Kailan}"..."Im runnin away {care of Little Bill}"..."Hey Dude, come here"..."seriously!"..."Hey babe!" or "Honey, babe...Honey!"  {Thats usually what I say to Ron so Brayden naturally copies that}...yes yes I know those are all things that make him appear as quite the stinkbutt, but really he isnt.  He is polite, well mannered and very sweet in nature.  He always says please and thank you and your welcome.  He calls ladies Miss, or Ma'am, tells Mommy "You're beautiful Mommy", and says "I love it" whenever he is truly excited about something!!!  He is just a trip.  He makes me giggle when I least expect it.  He is intuitive and gentle.  He doesn't bite, or kick or hit.  He takes turns with toys at play dates, and loves to give hugs.  Ok...Ill stop gushing over my peanut, but I am proud of the little guy is growing up to be. 

I am constantly reminded there is a God when I look at my son.  I am reminded that I have more in life than I could ever hoped for, and am grateful and happy that we are all happy and healthy. 

Brayden has recently started saying prayers every night before bed.  He sounds so precious...I need to tape record it some evening so I will never forget how adorable he sounds while saying this every night before bedtime: "Dear Lord, thank you for everything.  Thank you for my family,  my friends, and my pets.  Please Guardian Angels...always watch over me and my family and pets...keep us safe, and happy and healthy.  Tell my family in heaven I said hello.  I love you God...Amen."  Occasionally he will add names like..."thank you for my brookey {his cousin} or Grandma, or Shadow and Chewbacca, or Mommy and Daddy.  It is soooo sweet.  We read Playful Puppies every night before bed at his request....then he tried to read it to us.  He ALMOST has the entire book memorized...and copies the same voice inflection.  Its too adorable.

Although I am excited to celebrate his 3rd birthday and grateful to God for this beautiful little boy he gave us...I am sad he is growing up so fast.  Its breaking my heart a little bit. 

Happy Birthday baby....we love you so much!

This is AWESOME!!!

Yo Gabba that is...yes...Brayden's 3rd Birthday is right around the corner, and I have been working like a mad woman trying to make everything for his party.  A few months back we asked him what kind of party he wanted, and he insisted on Yo Gabba Gabba!!!  He named off a list of things he wanted which included Lemonade, chocolate covered strawberries, a chocolate Brobee cake, Brobee games, and strawberry ice cream.  He has NON STOP been talking about his party ever since.  He is inviting everyone he sees by saying "come to my party please?". 

So, I searched for supplies to buy, but fell short both with funds, and finding places to buy Yo Gabba themed items.  I did however find a whole host of ideas online from other savvy Momma's that have already thrown Gabba themed parties.  So...I have been creating at my dining room table for the last few weeks now.  So far....we have like 30 of these puffs...

All Yo Gabba primary colors of course.  I have also been painstakingly...{and that is NO understatement} been making these with tissue paper..yes...in EVERY.SINGLE.CHARACTER.

We will also be having all of these fun things as well...ALL HANDMADE...

It has become nothing short of insane.  Not to mention our guest list is already over 100 people, 60 of which have RSVP'd they are coming.  We will have Yo Gabba music, games, a Brobee cake, ice cream, yummy food, balloons galore, Foofa wands, and Yo Gabba Land will be complete for the day!  I am so happy I can do this for Brayden, and he is sooooo excited.  I hope he loves his birthday party, and has a wonderful day. 

I will happily post pictures once all of my projects are complete, and add tutorials on how to make everything too!  Its been a TON of work, but will definitely be worth it. 

Looking up to Daddy...

Recently Ron was voted into one of our local fire departments as a new volunteer.  He has truly enjoyed volunteering for the department thus far, and is learning so much.  This new endeavor of his has also afforded him the opportunity to ride along in, and help out during fires, medical calls, etc.  He loves being in a position to be able to help people, be involved in his community and further his education through them.  Brayden loves that this means Daddy also got a key to the department, and can go and tour the fire trucks whenever he wants too...which means Brayden gets his fill of seeing the big fire trucks whenever he requests to do so.  A few months ago...Ron took him to the station for the first time so Brayden could climb in the trucks, rescue boats, and tour the department.  Brayden was nothing short of awestruck.  I think Daddy was too a little bit by being able to bring Brayden there.  Brayden thinks Daddy is more than way cool now!  Here they are "playing" at the fire station in the big fire trucks...it was truly fun to watch them be boys that day.

Be still my heart

Today after Brayden and I hit the local Wegmans picking up some things for dinner...we arrived home and I {not wanting to make more than one trip inside with groceries}....grabbed all of the bags and carried them to the side door to set them down and get Brayden out of the van. 

Brayden asked me why I dropped the bags, and I chuckled and told him they were heavy!!!  He quickly bent over and grabbed a bag with all his little might and said "I help you Mommy-it's heavy!"  I opened the side door and he waddled up the stairs and all the way into the kitchen carrying it for me.  He worked so hard, and was so proud of himself for being a big helper!!! 

I thought for sure he would get inside the door and set it down before making it all the way, but he did'nt, he struggled and worked so hard!!!

 I was so proud of him for being such a great little guy!!! 

 Moments like these remind me we are doing something right....

♥ Be still my heart ♥

Mother's Day...

Since this is really the first official year that Brayden can speak well enough to actually tell me Happy Mother's Day...this day proved to be a very special one.

After some prompting from Daddy....Brayden ran up to me with a huge and beautiful smile and told me very gently "Happy Mother a Day Mommy!"

As soon as I smiled and cheered because he was so sweet...he got even more happy and gave me a huge hug and a kiss.

What more does a Momma need on Mothers Day?

A Beautiful Day to Play...

Today Brayden begged me to go outside in the yard to play with him.

He asked me with such zeal and excitement in his face...it made me feel young again.

We ventured into the yard and he told me it was a "beautiful day to play Mommy!"

Indeed it was.

I sat down in the damp grass with my camera to watch him play, and capture his zest for the most simple and pure fun two people could have together...the appreciation of the others company, and the joy we would soon find in it...together.

He picked Dandelions and handed them to me.

He then picked a few more and wanted me to place them behind his ears because he says he is a "rich princess"...something he has clearly picked up from his 4 year old cousin Ryleah.

Then he wanted to blow the white whispy weeds into the wind...and I took pictures because he was so determined and adorable.  I giggled quietly as I observed him.

He knew my undivided attention was on him, and only him.

He kept running over to me and giving me hugs and kisses.  He would stand behind me at other times and wrap his little chubby arms around my neck and kiss my head telling me he loved me.

He sang to me, danced for me, played hide and seek with me, and even sat with me while we took pictures of ourselves together. 

He melted away my day to day life for a few hours today.

We ignored responsibility...

We ignored the phone...

We ignored anything and everything else going on in the world except for the little world we created for ourselves in our own backyard...

After all....it was in fact...

 a beautiful day to play!